Album title: Another Day
Artist: Steve Ashley
Genre: Folk/Protest Music
Nationality: English
Release date: January 20
Position in Discography: Twelfth
Fear Factor: Low (ish)
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Not really no
Folk and country are a little similar to me: you can have really great, classic or just good albums and artists, and you can have terrible ones. Much of the folk I've heard has been a little dreary and boring (though not all) and to be honest, if this guy is anything like yer wan Julia Byrne I won't be staying long. Well it's not bad to be fair; the old protest song goes well with the harmonica and the Jew's harp, though I do wonder how an almost eight-minute folk song is gonna hold up? That's coming up soon, so stay tuned. To be honest, “There Will Be Pain”, which only falls slightly short of five minutes, drones on for what sounds like two minutes more than it needs to, so I don't hold out too much hope for “The Paper Song”, the aforementioned eight-minuter. Okay well it was entertaining, and not too bad, but it definitely dragged a little. “What Do You Do?” is a total waste of time, less than a minute of him talking and laughing at his own “joke” I guess, but the next track is at least nice.
“For Bruce” is interesting: an acapella tribute to, I assume, someone other than Sir Bruce Forsyth, while “Land of Love” hits out pretty harshly at the NHS. Mind you, much of this is sharp political satire put to music (mostly acoustic) and it's quite good. It's enjoyable but I admit I did find it something of a struggle to get through. I'm just not that big a fan of either folk or protest music to appreciate this, but if it's your bag you'll probably get a lot out of this album.
Check out more from this artist? He's all right but I don't think I'd be in too much of a hurry
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Maybe. Probably.
Expectation Index: 1